Rewriting Hogwarts
by xXxGlaceonxXx
Summary: My name is Rita Lestrange, better known as Rit, daughter of Rodolphus Lestrange. Currently eleven years of age, and a recent recipient of my Hogwarts acceptance letter. Pottermore based HPNextGen fic
1. Chapter 1

**Yes, yes this is yet another fanfiction based on Pottermore.**

**Constructive criticism, suggestions and reviews wanted.**

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape or form own Harry Potter and its characters. If I did, I would be British and a very, very rich woman indeed.**

* * *

My name is Rita Lestrange, better known as Rit, daughter of Rodolphus Lestrange. Currently eleven years of age, and a recent recipient of my Hogwarts acceptance letter.

Father had been thrown into Azkaban after the war, but managed to escape, on the basis that the dementors were no longer interested in him, and his blatant ignorance to the world around him meant that he was deemed able to be released into the wizarding world once more. I never knew my mother, and Father is somewhere between refusing to tell me and unable to tell me. Despite being mostly unaffected by the dementors and Azkaban, the war had done quite a number on him and he was losing what little of his mind he had left as a result. All the 'comfort' I have on the matter is that he assures I am definitely pureblood.

The Ministry had decided that children of dangerous former Death Eaters should be monitored, so they gave us a Muggleborn woman to supervise me, under the pretense that she was a 'substitute mother' for me. However, she had arrived a tad late, as Father, while slightly absent, had managed to successfully teach me all three Unforgivables, letting me use his wand to cast the spells. Despite the fact that she was in our house under the pretense of a Ministry-approved programme, it was a tad strange, as virtually none of the dangerous Death Eaters survived the war, and those who did were in Azkaban, except for Father. While the circumstances were suspicious, she treated me like her own child, and as the only mother figure I'd ever known, she stayed with no questions asked.

Regardless, nowadays, Father spends his time locked in his room, reminiscing about the 'good old days', when muggleborns were despised and purebloods were in power. Personally, I had no issues with muggleborns and muggles, and the introduction of Annette had only helped matters.

Annette had been sorely disappointed in the lack of muggle items in the Lestrange Manor, and had ordered a few muggle appliances to help me 'learn the importance of muggles', a cover for her wanting a little bit of comfort from the intimidating manor. She taught me how to charm the items into working in the wizarding world, including a television set and an oven, which lead to many hours of fun.

Previously, I had spent my time in the manor's extensive library, reading up and learning all the schoolwork that I would ever need to know, along with all sorts of interesting extras, such as magical baking and multiple volumes of _Hogwarts: A History_. While Father was please I read about the 'glorious past', he was unimpressed that I was insistent on becoming a bookworm, claiming I was becoming like 'that know-it-all Mudblood, Granger'. I didn't mind in the slightest – in fact, I was rather proud.

The Ministry had been incredibly wary when they saw the amount of underage magic being used consistently at the manor, but once they had placed Annette within the house, she was more than happy for me to practice my magic, so long as it didn't hurt anyone. She taught me how to bake cupcakes by hand, and then how to bake them using charms. Given the explosion that had occurred when we had attempted it the muggle way, she allowed me to continue baking them the magical way, and was rather impressed that I could make them on a large scale at a decent quality. She also insisted that we watch some television, which she called 'TV'. She introduced me to the wonders of muggle shows, particularly a Japanese kind called 'anime', which we spent days and days watching on end.

She also insisted that I become an Animagus, and that I should associate with my cousin Draco and his children. While I agreed on the first, I wasn't keen on the second. I knew that Draco wasn't particularly fond of Father's deceased wife, his aunt, as not only had he been tortured by her, his son, Scorpius, was currently going out with Rose Weasley, the daughter of war heroes Ron and Hermione Weasley, the latter of which also having been tortured by said aunt. Annette had tried to force us to meet, but I wasn't keen on being compared to my crazed father and his dead wife, and Draco wasn't keen on meeting what he considered to be the crazed offspring of his crazy aunt. So, much to Annette's disappointment, the happy family reunion would have to wait until we met at Platform 9¾.

* * *

"Rodolphus Lestrange, you are not allowed to leave the house under orders of the Ministry! I will take Rit shopping for –"

"Annette, I've been to _Azkaban_. Twice. Do you really think I care what the Ministry has to say? I will take my daughter to go to Diagon Alley right n-"

"You most certainly will not! Or have you forgotten that you're under house arrest? Like I've already stated, I will take Rit-"

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed some floo powder and walked towards the fireplace. The two of them would be fighting for quite some time before they came to a mutual disagreement. It's faster to go on my own anyway, so no love lost. Before throwing down the powder, I called to my supposed guardians, "Goodbye, Father. Bye Annette," before chucking the powder and shouting, "Diagon Alley!"

Brushing the soot from my clothes, I wandered to Gringotts to make a withdrawal, enough to cover my school supplies, some new robes and some food, probably some ice cream from Fortescue's. I hadn't realised that Father was under house arrest, but that did explain why he wouldn't, or rather, couldn't, take me out of the Lestrange Manor. Pondering what he could have done to get the house arrest and the Ministry official, other than being one of the biggest supporters of Voldemort of all time, I began what I knew what would be a long shop.

After a rather uneventful but successful shopping trip so far, I had managed to get my school robes, all the required books and all the magical items I was supposed to possess. That left three things; my chosen pet, my wand and my ice cream. Considering the order, I decided it was probably best to get the wand, then the food and finally the pet before flooing home again. So, once again wandering the streets of Diagon Alley alone, I went towards the south side in the search for Ollivanders.

After a few minutes, with destination in sight, I looked down to the ground. Contrary to popular belief, you can learn a lot from looking at the ground, and it's quite easy to navigate if you know how. It was quite a nice cobblestone, actually and I've never-

"Oof! What do you think you're doing, wandering into people like that! Honestly, children these days…"

I tuned out after I figured out who was speaking. Lovely, I get to meet my cousin, his wife and his kids long before I really wanted to. Fabulous, nothing better.

"Look at me when I'm speaking to you, girl! Who do you think you are!"

I looked up at him and glared, blowing some of my mousy brown hair off of my face.

"Nice to see you too, cousin. Have a nice day? Hello Astoria, Scorpius, Jade. Just gotten Jade her wand then, did you Draco?" Standing up, I looked my irate cousin in the eye, much to the disturbance of Astoria and Jade and to the absolute fury of Draco and Scorpius. Clenching his fists to the point where his knuckles were going white, he managed to spit out, "Who. Do. You. Think. You. Are."

Smirking, I held out my hand. "Rita Lestrange, call me Rit. I'll be in first year Hogwarts this year."

While Draco glared at my offered hand, Scorpius had relaxed slightly, and Astoria had gently pushed Jade towards me. "Scorpius will be starting third year, and our dear little Jade will be starting first year as well." She pushed Jade towards me a little more. "Jade, say hello to your father's cousin."

Jade shuffled her feet a little, then hesitantly looked up at me and muffled a quiet, "Hi." Astoria gave her a reassuring smile and then gestured for Scorpius to say his part, all the while giving Draco a look that was quite obviously screaming 'behave like the adult you are'. Scorpius rolled his eyes and smirked back at me.

"Aren't you a little _young_ to be walking the streets of Diagon Alley by yourself?"

My eyes narrowed. I don't take well to being patronised, as poor Scorpius had yet to discover. Wordlessly, I managed to tie his shoelaces together. Then, gesturing that he should come closer, he tried, and fell spectacularly onto his face. Well, that had eased some tension. Jade was now giggling, Astoria looked disapproving but amused, and even Draco had calmed down and was smirking. Scorpius, on the other hand, glared at me and then proceeded to get up, looking all the more mortified. Muttering something about me being a crazed little bint, he went and stood behind his father and sister.

Astoria looked me over, and voiced what she had appeared to be mulling over for a while.

"Rit, would you like to come over to our house before school starts? Only if that's ok with your father, of course."

Grinning, I looked up towards my cousin and his family. "Sure, I'd like that. I apologise in advance for my rude departure, but I should really get my wand before dark…"

After the cheery goodbyes from Astoria and Jade, and as polite a goodbye as I was ever going to get out of Draco and Scorpius, I walked into Ollivanders. The bell that resided above the door rang, and Mr Ollivander himself turned around. He began to size me up with beady little eyes, before muttering incoherently. After a few minutes, he cleared his throat.

"Good evening, miss. Can I help you?"

He looked nervous, like he was scared of me. Upon actually deigning to use my brains, I remembered exactly why he'd look nervous. Father had been a dangerous Death Eater who was extremely loyal to Voldemort, and had been to Azkaban. Twice. Aside from mousy brown waist length hair and hazel eyes, Father and I looked quite alike. Short, stick-like figures with faces that looked permanently sullen. As age had caught up to him, Father had needed Muggle glasses, and much to his irritation, I had needed them from early on as well. I possessed black rectangular glasses, which had silver glitter covering one arm that slowly began to reduce in concentration around one lens. Regardless of our differences, we did look alike, and ultimately, I was a Lestrange. Poor Mr Ollivander had a right to be worried.

"Um, yes please. I'm looking for a wand?"

"A wand, you say? Your name, if you please?"

"Rita. Rita Lestrange."

He paled as his suspicions had been confirmed, that I really was the daughter of one of the worst Death Eaters of all time. I sighed at his petrified expression. He jumped slightly, clearly forgetting I was there, and scampered off to find a wand, muttering to himself the whole time.

"No, no, not that one, no, perhaps…" He stepped off the ladder. "Try this one, Miss Lestrange. Ebony and phoenix feather, eleven and a half inches, surprisingly swishy."

Taking the wand, I waved it around a little, but the wand flew out of my hand and flew back to Mr Ollivander, who resumed his muttering. "No, no, not that wand... perhaps this one? No, no, not that one either. Aha. Try this one, Miss Lestrange. Blackthorn and dragon heartstring, twelve and three quarter inches, hard."

Taking the wand once again, I felt a connection with the wand that I hadn't felt with the other. Muttering a quick hair colouring charm, much to the alarm of Mr Ollivander, I managed to colour my hair a much more reasonable dark brown with a black stripe, a nod to Narcissa Malfoy, whom was more or less my aunt, despite Bellatrix not being my mother.

Mr Ollivander, looking surprised, managed to say, "Well, I suppose that settles it then, doesn't it? That'll be seven Galleons."

Passing the man his gold, I walked out of the shop. Noticing my pile of shopping by the door, I sent it back to the manor, and proceeded to tuck the wand in my pocket and go to the menagerie.

* * *

Having arrived back into the main part of Diagon Alley by half past five, it was obvious that I was going to have to choose my pet quickly and miss out on the ice cream before I went home.

Darn it, I was looking forward to that ice cream. Oh well.

Walking inside the menagerie, I was quickly drawn to a black kitten in the front of the store. It was adorable, something that I was certain I was going to have as my pet for Hogwarts. However, as I was looking around for staff that I could ask about the kitten, I spotted another kitten in the back corner of the shop.

Curious, I went back to investigate, much to the chagrin of the black kitten that was the object of my affection just a few seconds ago. Wandering over to the back of the store, I took another look at the little kitten that was stuck in the corner hidden from view. It was even cuter than the black kitten that I'd been paying attention to before. Smarter too, it seemed, as the kitten mirrored my movements, complete with the same look of blatant curiosity that I must have presented.

While it was clear that the kitten was a mixed breed, it appeared to be mostly ragdoll. It had black ears and a symmetrical mask that covered the eyes, but not the muzzle, along with a black, bushy tail and sharp blue eyes. The kitten had stilled when I had, and now that I was no longer of interest to it, it returned to the post that had been in the corner.

"Beautiful cat, isn't she?"

I jumped, then mentally scolded myself. War or no war, Father had taught me to fake being unaffected by anything and everything, and being startled by something as simple as an unexpected comment was unforgiveable in his mind. Sighing, I turned around to meet the witch in charge. "Yes, she is. What breed is she?"

The witch frowned. "She's a ragdoll and Kneazle mix. It's a real shame no one's taken her…"

"I'll take her," I said automatically. Despite not having thought it through, I suppose it was more or less given that I was going to buy her. "How much?"

The witch's eyes widened in surprise. "You sure? She'll be a right handful, she will be. You sure you'll be able to handle her?"

"Yes, sure. Now, what else will I need and how much is she?"

"She's going to be fifteen Galleons, young lady. Now, to the most important part of the process: what are you going to name her?"

Contemplating the options, it was obvious that she was going to be quite a snob of a cat, so a majestic name would suit her nicely, complete with the added bonus of appeasing Father. However, I had never been good with choosing names, whether it be for toys or pets.

A few minutes later, the sales witch was getting sick of my inability to choose a name and was tapping her foot in irritation.

"Any day now, miss."

Glaring at her, I said the first name that came to my head. "Anastasia."

Raising an eyebrow, she repeated, "Anastasia? Are you sure?" Her doubt quickly subsided to panic when I proceeded to a position that made it look like I was going to think about it some more, something that she wasn't particularly happy about, given that she had wanted to close the store at least quarter of an hour ago. Quickly, she wrote down the required stock taking notes and grabbed the items I would need to look after a cat.

"Right, there's a pamphlet in there about tracking charms and such, as well as information on how to look after your new cat properly," she was saying, shoving things into my arms in a flustered whirlwind. "Enjoy your new cat, have a nice day, goodbye!"

And with that, I was shoved out of the store, the door slammed behind me with a resounding bang.

Smirking to myself after a successful day's shopping, I sent Anastasia's things home, picked her up, and went to the public fireplace to floo home.

* * *

**So, what do you think?**

**Link for the glasses Rit wears here: **http(colon) collections/kirk(underscore)heroes/kirk(underscore )heroes/melissa(underscore)kirk/g1

**Remember to replace words in brackets (****parenthesis) with the appropriate punctuation.**

**Review please!**

**Luna**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Do you seriously think I'd be on Pottermore and Fanfiction if I owned Harry Potter?**

* * *

Upon hearing the roar of the floo signaling my return, Annette came running.

Swamping me in a tight hug, she managed to say, "Oh, Rit, where have you been! I've been worried sick and your father is inconsolable with rage. What were you thinking?"

Wriggling out of her iron-like grip, I gestured to the pile of school equipment by the fireplace. "I went shopping. You and Father were too immersed in your arguing to notice me leave, so I thought I may as well go. I met Draco and his family too, by the way, and I've been asked over to their house."

Shrieking her delight, she caught me in her bear hug once again. "I'll floo them at once, shall I? Oh, Minister Shacklebolt will be so pleased!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it, they won't."

Father had stormed in, taken one look at the pile of shopping that I had managed to acquire, and glared fiercely at me. "And what, Rita Bellatrix Lestrange, do you think you were doing, going shopping alone and associating with my disgrace of a nephew."

I winced at the use of my middle name; I hated it when he used it. I hated the fact that he and Bellatrix had been such avid Death Eaters, so faithful to Voldemort, and that that lunatic of a man was still my father. His beliefs may have had to be silenced with time, but, sadly, they were still alive and well. Difference was that having to bottle them up all the time made it worse when he _could_ have a muggle-hating outburst.

"You may not go to your muggle-loving cousin's manor and that is final." He was seething with rage and his hand was going to his wand. I sighed, this really wasn't my day. Reaching for my own wand, I got myself ready to duel, all the while scaring the living daylights out of Annette, who was so pale that she rivaled a sheet. When she remembered that she was a witch and a Ministry employee, she reached for her own wand and confiscated Father's wand.

"I think you'll find that the Ministry has the final say in the matter, Rodolphus. Rit will be going to the Malfoy Manor before she starts school, and _that_ is final."

Glaring at me and then at Annette, he hissed at her, "Geh und sterben, schmutzig Schlammblut," then huffed and stormed to his room like a peeved child. I sighed again. Now that Father was angry enough to start on the German, he was far more furious than I had first thought.

Annette looked at me in confusion. "What did your father say?"

"Run along and die, filthy Mudblood. Don't be too offended, just ignore him and floo the Malfoys."

Looking very much offended, Annette went off to either floo the Malfoys or to go home, I wasn't quite sure which. I'd hoped for the former, as the latter would mean two things. One, that she had let Father win, and two, I would be left alone to deal with Father in his rage. Sighing once more, I went to the kitchen to bake some cupcakes and get the ice cream that I missed out on. Thank Merlin for takeout.

* * *

Fortunately for me, she _had_ done the former and had indeed flooed the Malfoys, and had organised for me to go to the Malfoy Manor in a few days time.

Once those few days were up, Annette was helping me in the kitchen charming a few batches of 'thank you' cupcakes when a couple of Aurors walked in. Knowing they were most likely after my father, I didn't even turn around when I asked, "What did he do this time?"

The first Auror spoke up. "We're here investigating a tip from your father about your use of underage magic. What do you have to say for yourself, Miss Lestrange?"

To say Annette was furious was an understatement of enormous proportions.

"I am the Ministry assigned official to this child," she fumed, "and _I_ know for a fact that she has only been using this magic for charming cupcakes." She glared at the two Aurors, almost daring them to say something against her. Unsurprisingly, they did.

Looking uncomfortable, the second Auror spoke up. "Miss, we got the tip off of her own father, and we–"

"You trust the word of a former Death Eater over the one of a Ministry employees? I'll have you know–"

"Miss, we just need to check out her wand for a couple of minutes–"

"There is nothing wrong with this child, daughter of a Death Eater or not! There is no need for–"

"Is this a bad time to pick Rit up?"

Everyone looked towards the source of the voice. It was Draco Malfoy, who was here to pick me up to go and visit his manor and children. In the shouting match that had ensued, no one noticed either the pop of his Apparation or the roar of the floo as he arrived. Yes, lovely time to prove that his cousin isn't completely crazy, isn't it? Just a couple of Aurors, nothing to see here...

Sighing for what seemed like the millionth time that week, I gathered up the cupcakes and walked over to my blonde cousin. Looking over my shoulder, I said warily to Annette, "Tell Father I'll be gone, and not to expect me for dinner, could you please?"

Annette, too, sighed and nodded her head. "Go off and have fun, I'll deal with them."

Walking to the fireplace, I remembered something else. "Annette! Can you feed Anastasia, please? Her food's in the cupboard, just give it to her when you're done…"

After seeing the confirming nod from Annette, I followed my cousin once again to the fireplace.

As we were about to floo to the Malfoy Manor, he couldn't help but whisper in my ear, "And I'm supposed to believe you're not crazy, how?"

He earned a nice, hard kick in the shins for that one.

* * *

Stepping out of the fireplace at Malfoy Manor was like stepping into a whole other world. The Malfoy Manor was far nicer than the Lestrange Manor, but then again, the Malfoys always had more money and far more influence than the Lestranges ever did. High, white arched ceilings and white marble floors, with regal archways and intimidating wooden doors separating rooms, with priceless artifacts and family portraits everywhere. It may as well have been Buckingham Palace for all majesty of the place.

The only thing that spoiled the grandeur of the manor was the string of profanities that my cousin was uttering, clutching his shin and swearing like a sailor.

Smirking to myself for a job well done, I set off to find the kitchen in the labyrinth, hoping to find someone to help me on my way. Crashing into something definitely human, I looked up to see who it was. Fortunately, I found someone. Unfortunately, it was Ronald Weasley.

Looking between my pained cousin and I, he asked, "Ferret, who is this, and why did she crash into me?"

Still muttering things best not repeated under his breath about the pain in his shin and the stupidity of weasels, he managed to reply, "That's my little cousin Rit Lestrange, Weasel. Where's the rest of the pack?"

The remaining members of both the Weasley and Potter families had gathered behind the Weasel. Lovely, running into war heroes in the house of reformed Death Eaters. Sighing once again, I thought to myself, 'This is so not my day.' Looking up at the others in the room, I intoned, "My name is Rita Lestrange, please call me Rit. Would you like a cupcake?"

Sighing, Draco dragged the lot of us back down the wing from which the families had emerged. Once we arrived to a sitting room of sorts, he went out of the room, muttering about crazy family and that we could make our own introductions and such.

After putting the cupcake platters down on the coffee table, I looked between the adults. Weasel looked somewhere between incredibly peeved at my presence and infatuated with the idea of sugary cupcakes, Mrs Weasley was trying to look pleased to see me but was clearly thinking about Father's wife and what she did, the Boy-Who-Lived looked confused, but his wife looked ecstatic, for some bizarre reason. Seeing no reason to sit down, I picked up the platter and walked around with it. The children seemed happy enough to take them, but Mr Weasley seemed to have other ideas.

Glaring at me slightly, he asked, "Are these poisoned?"

Mrs Weasley slapped his arm. "Ronald, be polite."

I glared in response to the Weasel's comment. "My cupcakes are many things, sir, but poisoned is not one of them. Why would I want to poison my cousin and his family?"

Standing down, he snatched a cupcake, took a tentative nibble, then practically smashed it into his face and grabbed another. Looking amused at her husband's behaviour, Mrs Weasley also took a cupcake. Following in her wake, Mr and Mrs Potter took one each. Now everyone had sat down and was happily eating, I placed the platter back onto the glass-topped table and sat on the floor, enjoying the semi-comfortable silence. Mrs Potter was the first to finish her cupcake, and was consequently the one to break the silence.

"Rit, these are very good. Did you bake them yourself?" At my confirming nod, she started on a new series of questions. "Did you bake them the muggle way?" A shake. "So you use underage magic?" Nod. "Don't you get into trouble?"

"Not unless trouble is leaving the Ministry official in charge of me with two Aurors this morning, not at all."

Looking somewhat disturbed at the revelation, the barrage of questions stopped. Thankfully, my blonde-haired cousin chose that moment to walk in with his family.

"Rit, I know you met them last week in Diagon Alley, but this is my wife Astoria, my son Scorpius, my daughter Jade, and this is my other son Colton, who was sick last week." Greeting the rest of the family again, I got up and got the platter, ready to offer it to the hosts. Draco, Astoria, Colton and Jade all took one, but Scorpius just glared at me, clearly still a bit sore about the shoelace incident in Diagon Alley. A glare from his mother saw him grab a cupcake and sit down on one of the couches with Rose, still glaring at me slightly as he bit into the food. Smirking in satisfaction, I put the platter back on the table and sat down once more.

After a few minutes of relatively silent eating (because Mr Weasley was making excessive amounts of noise as he ate), my lovely cousin decided to shoo the children out of the room, including attempting to literally shove me out of the room. Abruptly turning around, I kicked him in the shin again. He started howling, clutching his shin and hopping around, swearing like a sailor. That earned me the approval from the adults sitting on the couch. Mr Weasley was roaring with laughter, Mrs Weasley, Mr Potter and Mrs Weasley chuckled and Astoria looked amused. Glowering at me, Draco said, "You have one hell of a kick, kid. Hey Granger, it might just rival the slap you gave me in third year."

Still chuckling, she replied, "It's Weasley, Malfoy, and you deserved that slap." Calming herself down, she looked towards me and said, "Rit, sweetie, why don't you go and get to know our children. I'm sure that Lily and Hugo in particular will love your company."

Smirking to my idiotic cousin and myself, I nodded and left the room in search of the Potter-Weasley clan and the younger Malfoys.

* * *

Later finding everyone in what appeared to be the kitchens, I walked in and began charming some more cupcakes. Knowing full well the hostile looks I was receiving, I continued to charm the cupcakes. That is, I would have kept charming them, had James not poked me to try and break my concentration. Jumping slightly, I accidentally stopped the spell I was in the middle of, resulting in a small bowl of flour covering Hugo. Shrieking as it got into his eyes, he stumbled and hit a wooden spoon, which flew through the air and hit Scorpius, who had taken to flirting with Rose by the kitchen cupboard. Glowering at everyone in the room in a startling resemblance to his father, he picked the spoon up and threw it at me, causing me to throw the bowl of half-finished batter I was holding, spilling some onto both Albus and Lily. Jade and Colton looked at each other with malicious glee before turning to face me and screaming, "FOOD FIGHT!"

With that, all hell broke loose. Ammunition was being taken from the cupboards at alarming rates and being strewn all over the room. We had quickly split into two teams; Rose, James, Lily, Hugo and Colton on one side, Scorpius, Albus, Jade and I on the other. Rose's team was based mostly on the side with the cupboards and fridges, for easy access to more ammunition. My team was positioned on the other side of the kitchen island, with a ready supply of ammo able to be produced by magic.

The war lasted for a good half hour, with everything from peas to mashed potato to ice cream and candy floss being thrown, including some spaghetti bolognaise and rhubarb custard, Merlin knows where they came from. Grabbing something off the counter, Scorpius came back behind the bench and whispered, "Make something good of these, will ya?" Smirking as my response, I cast a quick spell to make the little zucchini muffins into little zucchini bombs, before handing them round to Jade, Scorpius and Albus. Giving a unanimous, very Slytherinesque smirk, the three threw the bombs towards the other side of the kitchen, which exploded satisfactorily all over the other team. Moments later, we saw the white napkin of defeat from the other side, signaling our success. The four of us began cheering, Jade and I hugging and Scorpius and Albus high fiving each other. We were all _very_ pleased with ourselves. That is, we were, until we heard the distressed shriek of Astoria.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY KITCHEN?"

We all froze and turned to look at our former battlefield. The previously spotless white kitchen was covered in food. There was meat sauce dripping down the front door of the oven, a few blobs of mash that had stuck to the ceiling, and the zucchini bombs had detonated in the right position to get both the prime angle for maximum coverage of our targets and maximum coverage of the rest of the kitchen. Turning around to the adjacent living area, I winced as I noticed red stains on the pristine cream carpet. In a bizarre role reversal, my easily angered cousin was trying to calm down his normally collected wife, whom looked fit to burst. Whatever he had whispered into her ear worked, as she eased a little. She glared frostily at her own children.

"You three are cleaning up this mess. Now. No magic." Grumbling their complaints, the three food covered Malfoys set to work. The other parents having arrived in the room were livid at their children, forcing them too to help clean the kitchen without magic. Draco glanced over at me, and grinned what could only be described as an evil grin.

"If you don't help clean this up, Rit, I'll tell Annette and your father. The Aurors too, if you spite me again."

Glaring furiously at my idiot of a cousin, I joined in with the cleaning effort. The adults left the room, satisfied that we were getting our punishment. Grinning victoriously, once I was certain they were gone, I held up my wand for everyone to see. They all stopped cleaning immediately, sharing in my glee. Quickly casting a cleaning spell on the kitchen and on us, we retreated to the comfort of the couches to get acquainted in ways food fights couldn't.

* * *

"How come you guys were avoiding me so much when you saw me?"

Looking guiltily between each other, the three clans spoke up.

"Mum and Dad weren't keen on us getting to know more children of Death Eaters than we had to," said James, looking awkwardly between his siblings and the floor.

Colton looked at me when he stated listlessly, "Father refused to have contact with the, and I quote, 'crazy spawn of the worst aunt and uncle in living memory'".

"Dad just has issues towards anyone Slytherin…" was Rose's offer, looking pointedly at Scorpius, who rolled his eyes in retaliation.

A little put out, I sank into the couch. On the upside, none of them were direct objections to me. On the other hand, they more or less had all judged my on the basis of who my father was and is and what his wife was like. Crossing my arms and sweeping everyone in the room with eyes of ice, I dared to ask, "Well, now that you know me through me, do I exceed your expectations of a crazed Death Eater child?"

Vigorous nods came from all round. Sniffing a little in the attempt to be falsely snobby, I continued the inquisition.

"So then, what do you think of me, Potters, Weasleys and Malfoys?" Receiving a combination of grins and smirks from the room, Scorpius spoke up.

"Anyone who can cook cupcakes like that and start a full scale food war? I think we can live with someone like that." Letting my façade drop, I smirked.

"Well then, am I to be introduced? You may be famous, but how am I supposed to know you lot properly?" Eyes were rolled and groans emitted, but I eventually got through whom everyone was and what they liked to be called, all the basics of getting to know people.

Starting with the Potters, Lily started the meet and greet.

"I'm Lily, and I'm starting Hogwarts this year. I want to be in Gryffindor and I love Quidditch."

"Albus, call me Al. I'm a third year Slytherin and I play a mean game of Wizard's chess."

"I'm James, the best of the Potter children." There were snorts from round the room that begged to differ. Glaring at everyone, he continued. "I'm a fourth year Gryffindor and I'm one of the Chasers for the Gryffindor team."

Rolling my eyes at what was quite obviously the idiot Potter, I gestured for Rose to continue with the introductions.

"I'm Rose, third year Ravenclaw. Call me Rosie and you'll be sent on a trip to the hospital wing."

"I'm Hugo and I'm also going into Hogwarts this year. I'm hoping for Gryffindor too, and I want to be the greatest Beater the world has ever seen!"

Chuckling at his enthusiasm, I waved a hand at Scorpius, signaling him to start his part.

"I'm the Almighty Scorpius, though you can call me Scorp. I'm a third year Slytherin and the amazing boyfriend to our dear Rosie." Rose rolled her eyes and slapped his arm, causing Scorpius to yelp and rub the offended limb.

Muttering under his breath at his brother's theatrics, Colton spoke up.

"I'm Colton, but I'm more commonly known as Colt. I'm a second year Slytherin and don't be afraid to hit brother dearest over here if he gets unbearable."

Chuckling once more, I let Jade do the final introduction.

"I'm Jade, and I'm starting Hogwarts this year. I'm hoping to get into Slytherin, like my brothers… but Rit, now that we've had to introduce ourselves, don't you think that you should too?"

Shrugging, I went on with what I signed up for. "I'm Rita Lestrange, though if you call me Rita I will be forced to hex you. I'm expected to get into Slytherin and I already know how to do all the spells and charms needed from first through seventh year."

Gaping at me, James made a comment of, "Could you teach us?"

Rolling my eyes yet again, I droned, "O Almighty Potter, I said I knew how to do the spells, I never said that I could actually do them."

Grumbling while everybody laughed at him, I heard footsteps coming from down the hallway. Panicking slightly, I summoned some towels and chucked them at the inhabitants of the room, hissing, "Look like you've been cleaning, they're coming!"

Scrambling back to the kitchen, we all started pretending to polish and wipe ourselves off, throwing in a few complaints in an attempt to make it more authentic. When Draco and company returned, they appeared to be satisfied that we had served our punishment. After returning the towels to Astoria, the others returned to their respective parents. Hugging Lily, Rose and Jade, I bid farewell to everyone and proceeded to return to the fireplace to go back to the Lestrange Manor.

I grimaced as I left the room, preparing for the journey back home. Magic or no, there was nothing that could save that poor carpet from the all-powerful wrath of beetroot.

* * *

**Review please! All ideas and criticism welcome.**

**Luna**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm so sorry that it's taken so long to update! It's been bad with school, and I'm afraid that the updates will only get slower from here. Hopefully this super long chapter will help soften the blow…**

**Disclaimer: I'm on ****Fan****fiction, aren't I?**

* * *

Having walked out of the fireplace, Annette was waiting for me with her arms crossed and her foot tapping. Crossing one arm over my chest and using the other to brace my head on, I groaned slightly. She was clutching a piece of parchment, and I could only guess whom that was from. Grumbling from behind my hand, I warily asked, "Alright, what did he say?"

Glaring at me, Annette shook the parchment to straighten it out and cleared her throat, as if she were reading a speech for the Minister of Magic himself.

"To whom it may concern,

Rita has started and led a food fight within my kitchens. She has been sentenced to cleaning the kitchen without magic with my own children and the other children involved. I would like to inform you that she is lucky I didn't inform the Ministry of Magic about her nonchalant attitude towards performing underage magic, even when she attempted to perform some within my house.

As much as she is family, I feel that she needs to have a few rules enforced. In my own opinion, I feel that she should not be practicing constant underage magic at home, and that she needs to learn respect for her elders. Her knowledge of politically correct behaviour leaves something to be desired, so she needs to learn also some basic social skills.

I hope that she is drawn back into line, and I wish to see her on her impending first day at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Yours truly,

Draco Malfoy"

Clearly expecting me to be properly contrite, she was most unimpressed when I just looked disgusted at my cousin's pathetic attempt to regain lost pride with childish tactics that even I hadn't used in years. Annette sighed and picked apart the letter.

"Well, for starters, you know you shouldn't be charm baking in someone else's house, family or not. You do need to learn better behaviour and a concept of respect, but his comment about your 'underage' magic was totally unnecessary. Monetary influence or not, he is not a Ministry official, and because I am the official here, I shall make the final call on what you are and aren't allowed to do."

Raising an eyebrow at her unexpected outburst, I went to get up and go off to the library, when Annette stopped me again, the picture of a furious mother.

"And just where do you think you're going?"

"The library?"

"Oh no, you're not. You are going to your room to learn your lessons. Now get moving or I'll levitate you there."

Sighing and rolling my eyes, I walked along to my room, but not before summoning a couple of books from the library. Once the books were sitting snugly in my arms, I completed my journey to the cave that was my room.

* * *

After a couple of hours spent reading on my bed, I closed the cover on the Goblin Revolutions and flopped back to look at the ceiling. Though my room was mostly black, green and silver, my ceiling was a view of the sky. It was one of the first projects Father and I had done. Removing the roof over my room was a pain, and trying to make the shield completely waterproof was a nightmare, but we got it right in the end. I'd managed to spend a few minutes happily cloud watching before Anastasia had covered my face in the attempt to get my attention.

Needless to say, she succeeded.

Sitting up, I stroked her back as she curled up in my lap. My cloud watching went undisturbed for another hour or so before Annette poked her head around the door.

"Rit, I've invited the Malfoys around for dinner. Are you going to come and have something?"

Groaning, I let my head hit the mattress again and grabbed the pillow to cover my face. "No thanks, Annette, I'm not hungry."

Sighing and knowing full well that she wouldn't get anything more out of me at that point, she went to leave. Seeing her about to go, I called, "Give them some cupcakes before they go, there's a fresh batch in the cupboard."

"Which ones? The caramel ones or the red velvet?"

"Which will offend them less, a Hufflepuff colour or a Gryffindor one?" Annette chuckled, thinking of the reaction of the Malfoys if we gave them something in the colour of the houses Draco despised most. "Wait, come to think of it, I think there are still some chocolate mint cupcakes in the pantry as well."

Chuckling slightly, Annette said, "I think I'll give them the chocolate and mint cupcakes. Goodnight, Rit," and then closed the door with a quiet thud.

Putting Anastasia onto the bed beside me, I went to my ebony desk and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill, before pulling out the chair and penning a letter to the Malfoys, in apology for the scene I created. Wouldn't Annette be proud, she'd been trying to get me to write that letter ever since I first returned to the manor. Better late than never, I suppose.

Signing my name with a flourish, I snatched the parchment, rolled it up and opened the door to go to the owlery in the east wing by the library. The noise caused Anastasia, whom had been napping on my pillow just seconds before, to hop onto the ground and pad towards the door, black tail puffed out and swaying. Seemingly, she wanted to come with me, but when I gestured to the door, she sat down, her tail curling round her paws. Rolling my eyes, I knew that this was another one of her games, her Kneazle brain getting its fill. She was bored stiff of the manor, I knew that, and toying with me was her vengeance.

"Well? Are you coming with me or not?" I had long since stopped bothering that I was crazy for talking to a cat. She was too smart for her own good, and people thought I was crazy already. I may as well give them something to base their theories on.

Rolling her eyes in the same manner that I had done just seconds ago, she gently walked out of the room, looking back at me once in the corridor with a disdained face, she lifted a paw in the direction of the east wing. Scowling at my kitten that was too smart for her own good, I followed the direction of her paw, preparing to send the letter for my cousin, whom I would meet with his family once again in less than a week's time.

* * *

Wading through the muggles that packed King's Cross, Annette, Father and I headed towards Platform 9¾. Father had had to petition to be allowed out of the house to come and see me off, considering his house arrest and reputation of one of the most dangerous Death Eaters of all time. Maneuvering the loaded trolley complete with caged cat through the sea of muggles was not pleasant, especially with Annette worrying in one ear and Father making disparaging comments in German about the amount of muggles in the other, not to mention the annoyed mewls of Anastasia, no doubt complaining about the cage and the amount of people she had to put up with.

Spotting the platform in the distance, I sped up, causing Annette to lurch forward with the trolley and Father to swear under his breath and walk faster. Now facing the platform, Annette gave me the instructions on how to get through.

"Right, so you've got to run, right into that wall, and then you'll be at Platform 9¾. I'll give you the demonstration, shall I? And then you and your father can run through together." She backed up from the wall, braced herself, and then ran full speed into the wall, disappearing from view.

Looking at my father for reassurance, I looked between him, his hands and the trolley, hoping he would get the hint and hold onto the handle so we could run through together. He did, thankfully, and put his hand on the trolley. Looking at me for the first time without some form of disapproval, he counted down for us to run through the wall together.

"Eins." We backed up.

"Zwei." We braced ourselves.

"Drei." We ran for the wall, going through it and landing rather clumsily onto Platform 9¾.

The Hogwarts Express was there in all its glory. It was just like the pictures, shiny black paint with red accents, and the plaque with the words 'Hogwarts Express' displayed proudly at the head of the train. The view was cut off when Annette ran to us as Father dusted imaginary lint off of the shoulder of his robes. I surveyed the area for any sign of my slightly delusional blonde cousin and his family. While I failed to find them, finding the Potter-Weasley clan was a piece of cake. Even I knew that there were only so many redheads on this side of the Atlantic, and the Weasleys made up most of that number. Fortunately, walking towards the sea of red allowed me to find a small island of blonde. Sighing in relief when Astoria waved frantically when she was who was walking towards her, I smirked and picked up speed, causing Annette and Father to jolt and run after me. Thankfully, I managed to stop the trolley just before I crashed into the back of Al. Once Father realised whom I was desperate to meet, he scowled and ground to a stop. By contrast, Annette clapped her hands in excitement and ran faster towards the clan.

"Ooh! I get to meet you all at last! My name's Annette Hamilton. I'm the Ministry employee in charge of the Lestrange family." Annette was attempting to shake hands with as many people as she could, going at a previously unknown speed.

Shaking my head, I muttered, "Annette, could you please act less like a fangirl and allow me to greet my friends and their families properly?" She blushed and scuttled to the side, allowing me to greet the hordes of redheads properly. I went round the female Weasleys, then Potters and Malfoys, and then turned back to see Al's trolley, which had something that I was not sure was regulation.

"Al, how come you have a ferret is a pet?"

The gang burst out into laughter, all except for Draco, who blushed furiously and looked downwards. Mr Potter had doubled over with laughter and no one else could stop laughing for long enough to talk. Mr Weasley seemed to be the first to reach talking point.

"Malfoy… Ferret… Moody… Oh, Merlin!" was all he managed to get out before falling over laughing. Sighing, I crossed my arms and began to tap my foot, waiting for the next person to return to a comprehensible state of speech. Surprisingly, the next was James.

"Mr Malfoy got turned into a ferret by Mad-Eye Moody in DADA in their fourth year!" And with that, he too was once again lost to the uncontrollable laughter. He came back down to Earth when Mrs Potter slapped him upside the head and scolded, "Don't make fun of Malfoy, James, no matter how much of a ferret we know him to be." Grumbling under my breath, I braced my head in my hands as I waited for the mob of Weasleys, Potters and Malfoys sans one to stop laughing. Thankfully for me and quite clearly my cousin, the end was near. Sadly for Draco and everyone else, the sober mood was brought on by the reappearance of my father. The aforementioned man stood behind me, and judging by the look on Draco's face, I could tell that he was wearing one of his more common looks. A disdained expression, complete with a raised nose and snootily looking down at whomever you were attempting to intimidate. Intimidate it did, as the Hogwarts-aged members of the clans scrambled to get their belongings before muttering quick goodbyes and tripping over each other in their haste to get on the train. As I opened my mouth to start the awkward introductions to the remaining audience, the whistle blew, signaling that we all had to get on the train quick smart. Not wanting to miss a seat on the train, I quickly nodded to Annette and to Father before grabbing my things and running towards the train.

"I know this is rude, but can I please leave you to introduce yourselves? You're all _reasonable_ adults," I said with pointed looks at Draco and Father, "and I think you can introduce yourselves. Plus, it would not be terrible for our reputation if I were late for my first day of school, for something as menial as missing the train. Goodbye, everyone. Annette, I shall owl you and Father when I get sorted."

And with one last look, I took my luggage and boarded the Hogwarts Express.

* * *

Finding a seat was harder than I had first thought. Most of the cabins were full already, everyone already having found their particular clique. Running into the back of Jade was unexpected but welcome, until I saw her look of distress.

"We're taking up the two cabins at the end. One for all the older Weasleys and Potters and one for the everyone else, Malfoys included." She smiled apologetically. "I'm really sorry, but there's just no room, unless you want to sit on the floor, on top of your things…"

Shaking my head and putting on a small smile, I replied, "I can find my own cabin, Jade. I cannot rely on your family or the Potters or the Weasleys to help me all the time." She smiled once more and ran off to join her brothers and the others. Walking back along to the other side of the train, I noticed a cabin that was empty, bar for two boys. Knowing this was as good as I was going to get this close to departure, I opened the door fully and sat on the opposing seat. I levitated my bags into the overhead compartment and looked to the two boys across from me.

"Can I let my cat out or not? She's going to go crazy if she stays in her cage for much longer." They had been sitting in stunned silence, but the boy on the right managed to say, "Sure, why not, she can roam for a bit. What's her name?"

"Her name's Anastasia." I shook my head, disbelieving that I had forgotten my manners so quickly. "Forgive my rudeness, what were your names?"

The boy on the right smirked. "Anastasia, eh? Sounds a bit stuck up, if you ask me. I'm Michael Cloaks, fourth year Gryffindor. I'm called Mads, for reasons you shall discover later." He said that last part with an evil undertone; a familiar tone when one lives in my house, if you could call it that. Turning to the boy on his right, he nudged him and said something in his ear that I couldn't hear. The boy who was nudged glared at his friend and looked at me to introduce himself.

"I'm Wolfgang Archibald Quenton, second year Hufflepuff. Call me Wolf, I refuse to respond to any other name, especially when my name sounds so stuck up. Hey, speaking of stuck up names, can we call your cat Ana? Bearing in mind that I'll call her that anyway."

Crossing my arms and screwing up my face, I was about to state that there was absolutely, under no circumstances that my cat was about to be called something as revolting as 'Ana' when a flamboyant blonde opened the door and flung herself in. Clearly having not noticed the appearance of a stranger, she grinned widely and stated, "Who missed me?"

"Lexy!" Wolf had jumped up and ensnared the vivacious blonde in a hug, the prey laughing all the while. Mads had just let his smirk grow, putting in his own two Knuts' worth of, "Good to see you, Miss Riddle." I felt my eyes widen, that could only mean that she was a descendant of the infamous Lord Voldemort. Yet, he was dead, so there had to be another explanation.

"Excuse me, Miss Riddle? May I please know your name?" The blonde whirled around, before noticing me on the seat across from her friends.

"How rude, boys, you didn't even tell me that we had company. Alexis Riddle, second year Hufflepuff along with our dear Wolfie here." She rubbed his hair for emphasis, to which he scowled and shoved her away gently. Alexis scoffed and sat between the boys, slinging an arm around both of them. Seeing my face of disbelief, she rolled her eyes and explained, "Yes, yes I am the granddaughter of Voldemort. Yes, yes I am a Hufflepuff. Yes, yes you can remain nameless. I'm sure that with family like mine, yours is sure to be an improvement."

Letting my annoyance mix with hers and set in, I made myself known.

"I am Rita Lestrange, though I prefer Rit, as it causes fewer hexes to fly, and injuries such as that are such a pain to cover up. I'm a first year this year, quite obviously, and my cat is called Anastasia. And you may _not_ call her Ana." The last sentence was said as Alexis opened her mouth to ask what Wolf had asked not minutes before.

The blonde opposite me grinned widely, and hugged the two boys flanking her tighter.

"You know, I think I like you, Rit. Got a lot of spunk. Plus, it'll be a nice change from these punks. Won't shut up about football and West Ham and nonsense." She saw Mads open his mouth to say something, which she intercepted with, "I don't care that your fathers are friends, nor do I care that I'm not interested in that particular part of Muggle culture. I refuse to join the Muggleborn and the other Half-blood for summer to watch something as mind-numbing as _football_."

Mads huffed like a small child and turned away from Alexis, his hulking pubescent form making the scene all the more amusing. Wolf just rolled his eyes and started fishing for something in his pocket. The girl in the middle just smiled and commented, "Call me whatever you want, so long as it's not my full name."

Wolf turned back to her and smirked. "Does that mean I can call you 'Sexy Lexy" again?" She slapped his shoulder in response, huffing, "Not if you want to keep your balls, Quenton."

"Anything from the trolley, dearies?" Wolf handed over a few Sickles and requested some Chocolate Frogs, Alex purchased some muggle licorice and Mads spent a little on some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. I purchased two Sugar Quills, eating one myself and giving the other to Anastasia, who snatched it and clambered to the overhead locker to eat her prey. Chuckling quietly to myself, the four of us quickly lapsed into a comfortable silence, each eating our treats. Once all was eaten, bar a few beans, which Mads stored for later, Anastasia made a return by leaping from up high onto the lap of Wolf. He caught her and forced her to stay as he petted her. She swapped between glaring at her captor and glaring at me, the owner whom was clearly not going to come to her rescue. Alex picked up Anastasia, pulled her into her own lap and proceeded to pet her in the same manner that Wolf had done, only this time the kitten purred happily. The response caused the younger boy to pout slightly and cross his arms.

"Why didn't she do that for me?" He whined in the direction of his friends.

Alex chuckled, before retorting, "I just have that 'magic touch', dear Wolf. Also, she may have smelt Pepper on your clothes. Merlin knows that cat has the touch of hell written all over him."

Glaring at Wolf before he could open his mouth to retaliate, Mads snapped, "Could you two _please_ behave for the remaining half an hour we have on this train? It's not going to kill you to keep calm for the remainder of the trip." Glowering among themselves, they all settled down and we returned to the quiet we had experienced only minutes before. After some more stroking of fur and a couple of stomach scratches, Alex looked up and said, "This little kitty really needs a nickname. Don't get me wrong, Anastasia's a pretty name, but it's a serious mouthful. If we can't call her Ana, can we call her Sia instead?"

I mulled over the new nickname. It was much easier to say than Anastasia, and wasn't quite as mundane as Ana, and the kitten sure had enough personality to be worthy of such a unique nickname. I eventually conceded and nodded my head in agreement. Wolf and Mads' jaws hit the floor. Mads could barely contain his shock, Wolf couldn't contain his frustration. He got up, moved to sit on my right and started an animated conversation about muggle football with Mads. Alex just rolled her eyes spoke again.

"Their fathers are best friends, basically brothers. Wolf's a half-blood, his mum's a witch and his dad's a Muggle. Mads is just flat out Muggleborn. The four boys always bond over football, though at Hogwarts these two tend to bond more over Quidditch. Mads is the Keeper for the Gryffindor team and Wolf wants to be a Chaser for the Hufflepuff team. I'm the Seeker for them, actually." She turned to look at me. "You play Quidditch?"

I shook my head, contemplating the famous game. "I have never flown, to be honest, and I have never seen a game, but I've read several books about it. I think I would be better suited down on the ground, in a library somewhere. But I am fascinated with the thought of flying, so I would love to have a fun game at some point."

Alex gaped at me. Turning to the boys in the corner, she hissed in disbelief, "She's never played Quidditch. Never even watched it. She's never bloody _flown_, for Merlin's sake!"

"WHAT!?" Wolf shrieked as Mads fell off of his seat. Wolf was up and pacing, while his friend was stuck rubbing his head on the floor, dodging the incessant pacer. "You've never played Quidditch? You've never bloody well _flown_? We're going to fix that right away. As soon as you've got access to brooms at- Colt!"

His ranting was interrupted by the arrival of Colt, whom was standing in the doorway, scowling at Mads, whom had fallen over as he was leaning on the closed door. He looked up and regarded the others in the room. "Hey Wolf, Alex, Rit. I don't suppose you've seen my snake?"

Wolf paled slightly while Alex rolled her eyes. Mads sat up, rubbing his forehead and muttered exactly what I was thinking; "Why the bloody hell have you got a pet snake, man?"

Glowering at the older boy, he snapped, "I happen to love my snake, thank you very much. As a matter of fact, I happen to think that your owl is- Hissy!"

Mads glared back, getting up and preparing to lecture the blonde. "I'll have you know, my owl is called-"

"No, you imbecile, my snake is called Hissy! He's up there with the kitten!" Getting up and glancing up at where my bags were, I spotted Sia playing with a scarlet kingsnake. Assuming that was Hissy, I picked the two of them and handed the snake to Colt. "Out of curiosity, how come he's called Hissy? That's slightly childish for you, isn't it?"

Shooting me a patronizing look, he replied, "I made the mistake of letting Jade name him when we were little. Now I want to change it to something more respectable, he refuses to respond to anything else." He shifted his gaze to the snake in his arms and the kitten in mine. "Our pets seem to get on, regardless of his ridiculous name."

While contemplating how Colt could ever think that Sia batting Hissy's head with her paw was 'getting on', Mads voiced another concern.

"Isn't that a coral snake? You know, something _poisonous_?"

Shaking my head, I put Sia down and explained. "Hissy is a scarlet kingsnake, which are very similar to the coral snake in appearance. To quote a popular Muggle saying to remember the two, 'Red touch yellow, kill a fellow. Red touch black, friend of Jack.'"

Getting up and taking Hissy out of Colt's arms, Wolf slung the snake around his neck and smirked. "I had wondered why he hadn't bitten anyone, especially me and Lexy." Alex giggled while Colt rolled his eyes and took his snake back. Looking out the window, he head for the door, but turned over his shoulder to call out, "As a heads up, Molly Weasley's Head Girl." And with that, he turned and left.

Mads looked like he wanted to throw up at the news, while Wolf and Alex looked as if the world had ended. Looking between the three of them, I dared to raise the question, "What is the problem with Molly Weasley as Head Girl?"

Wolf looked at me as if I had asked what train I was on. "The better question to ask is what's _not_ wrong with Molly Weasley the Second. She's as scary as her namesake when she's pissed, she's as swotty as her dad Percy and to top it all off, she's inherited the famous Weasley temper. To make everything worse, she's a Head this year. We'll be stuck with her constant fury!"

"If you're quite done insulting my cousin."

We all snapped around to spot Rose, standing in the doorway of the cabin. I swear I heard Alex mutter, "What is it with all these visitors today?" before Rose spoke again.

"I know Molly's a pain in the arse, but she is Head Girl and you're just going to have to deal with it. Now, Rit, is there any way that you can look after Lily and Hugo for me? They won't let anyone else know, but they're scared stiff… and is there anyway you could look after Jade, too?"

Wolf looked at the redhead questioningly. "Colt's little sis?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah, that's the one. Scorp won't say anything about it, but he's worried sick about his baby sister starting school… please, Rit, can you look after them?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "You do realise I'm the same age if not younger than your relatives and Jade, don't you? Plus, I don't have any older siblings or relatives to look after me. Don't you think it should be you offering to look after me, or getting your brother and cousin to look after me, instead?"

Wolf slung his arm over my shoulders. "Are you kidding? You've got us, kid. We'll help ya out."

Looking at the boy on my right suspiciously, I commented, "I was under the impression that you didn't like me." Rolling her eyes again, Alex placed her arm over my other shoulder.

"Don't worry about him, he's just a dick to anyone he's not sure about at first."

"HEY! I resent that!"

"Did I mention he acts like a child a lot of the time? I swear to Merlin, he's never grown up…"

"Shut it, Lexy."

"Can we come back to me now?" Rose was still standing, rather amused, in the middle of the doorway. Feigning innocence, I gestured for her to continue.

"Look, I just want to make sure that Lily and Hugo know someone before they start, whether you're going to get into their house or not. Please promise to help me look after them?" When I nodded, she turned to Mads, whom had managed to get up off the floor and return to his seat in the corner without us noticing. "I hope James and Fred don't give you much grief this year, Mads."

Laughing with a slight bitter note, he replied, "Are you serious? Those two are going to kill us all, and ruin any chances Gryffindor has left of the House Cup."

Grinning, she retorted, "That's what we're counting on. I'll see you guys off the train." Then she closed the door. Quickly turning on Mads, I questioned, "What have you got against Fred and James?"

He groaned and buried his head in his hands. "You've heard of the Weasley twins, yeah?" At my conformation, he continued. "They're just the same, if not worse. Fred takes samples from his dad's shop and he and James prank everyone left, right and centre. They get in trouble and lose more house points than everyone else combined. It's awful, they don't even have the brains that Fred's dad and namesake had, they get caught all the time!"

Wolf slumped down next to his friend. "Mate, you've got to admit, some of their stunts are pretty cool." Mads glared at the younger black haired boy.

"Just because you want to help in their stunts and think they're cool doesn't mean that anyone in Gryffindor will agree with you that they're worth losing the house points over."

Alex's screeching interrupted them. "Damn, we've got five minutes to get into our robes! Quick, chuck them on!" She threw black objects at the heads of the boys, along with a red and gold tie and a yellow and black tie. I summoned my robes from my bag and put them on, along with my black tie, complete with the Hogwarts insignia. We managed to gather our things together before the train halted suddenly, causing Sia and Mads's owl to shift from one of the overhead lockers to another. My kitten was not particularly impressed that there was food in the cage that was squashing her and she had no way of accessing it. We grabbed our belongings and ran, I put Sia in her cage as she left, dodging her rather lethal claws. I managed to bid adieu to my new friends and meet up with the Potter, Weasley and Malfoy clans, as I promised Rose. I had the three youngest members shoved towards me while the older members ran towards a small spat, including suspiciously victorious Fred and James, an irate Molly Weasley and a furious Al, with hair that was messy green and silver as opposed to his normal messy black. There was a lot of shouting involved, largely over each other. I managed to hear the gist of the conversation, if one could call it that, as well as some words I would rather not repeat. The screaming match was cut short with Molly mid-reprimand.

"WHA' THE BLOODY 'ELL IS GOIN' ON 'ROUND 'ERE?"

A greying Hagrid made his presence known, coming closer to the arguing brood. "All righ', what's goin' on 'round 'ere? 'Onestly, you two, I though' you'd be better than that!" He tapped his umbrella on the ground and Al's hair returned to normal. He sighed before continuing. "There, that's be'er. Now shut yer trap and an' get ta school, ya troublemakers. All right, firs' years, follow me."

* * *

After a quick boat ride across the lake, Hagrid lead all the new students towards another famous war hero, Deputy Headmaster Longbottom. Thankfully, it turned out that I didn't need to look after Lily, Hugo or Jade after all. Jade had managed to find a friend already and Lily was dragging Hugo towards the school in boundless excitement. She pulled him to the front of the crowd where she said rather loudly, "Hi, Uncle Neville!" The professor chuckled, before telling her it was Professor Longbottom now and that she should let go of Hugo's collar before he passed out from suffocation. Reluctantly, she let go of her cousin before returning to the crowd. Hugo rubbed his neck before following her, muttering something about deranged cousins. Snickering, I followed the professor as he led us through the wooden doors into the Great Hall. As everyone stepped through, we all looked towards the ceiling, charmed to look like the night sky, as I had read many a time in _Hogwarts: A History_. The floating candles added their own element to the artificial starlight as we headed to the front of the room, in front of what I could only assume to be the professor's table. In the front was a small wooden pedestal, with a worn hat perched on top. It must have been black once upon a time, but it was now grey from being worn so often, and also the treatment it had received during the war. Professor Longbottom strode up to the stool, took a piece of parchment from where his place at the table was and proceeded to read.

"Welcome, first years, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When I call your name, could you please come up to the stool so that the hat can place you. Baddock, Jasmine."

A short girl with long black hair scurried forward and sat eagerly on the stool, shaking with what I could only assume was excitement when the professor placed the famed Sorting Hat onto her head. Not a moment later, the hat cried, "RAVENCLAW!" and she ran off in the direction of her new house's table, grinning. I tuned out as a few more names were called, but then I heard something I couldn't ignore.

"Lestrange, Rita."

If there was anything I learned from my father, it was the importance of façade. No matter what, one must always pretend that they are full of confidence and self-assured. I walked with my mask in place up to the stool, took a seat and waited for the hat to be placed on my head.

A couple of seconds later, I felt the worn cotton of the Sorting Hat on my head. It began whispering in my ear.

"Very clever, yes, indeed, loyal too. But I feel that you would be bes-"

"Just put me in Slytherin and get on with it, yes? You have people to sort, just stick me in the house of the snakes."

I could feel the hat attempting to glower at me in its response.

"And with that cutting remark, I'll put you in SLYTHERIN!"

With the last word said aloud for the whole of the hall to hear. Proudly, I waltzed across the room towards the Slytherin table, to the music of polite but very much forced applause.

Sitting myself down next to Al, I managed catch Jade being sorted into the same house, a relieved smile on her face as she clambered off the chair and walked towards me. Moving over so she had a seat, I turned to her and said, "Congratulations,", Scorpius leaned over the table to ruffle her hair and Colt looked disinterested. I turned back around to see Lily on the stool, with the hat pondering for a second before proclaiming, "GRYFFINDOR!" loudly enough that some of the candles began to quiver. The Potter-Weasley component of the table stood up in uproarious applause, as the new Gryffindor blushed the famous Weasley red and practically ran to her seat. A girl called Snarsha Remeair was sorted into Slytherin. She strode over to the table, pushed Jade across to the side, and plopped down next to me. She faced me and held her hand out stating, "Remeair, Snarsha Remeair, call me Sa." She grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously as she continued.

"I can tell that we're going to get along just fine. That hair colouring charm? Fabulous. You're Rita, right?"

Pulling my hand out of her grasp, I said reluctantly and cautiously, "Rit, if you don't mind." I looked at her long chestnut hair that was all in ringlets and said quickly, "Do you mind if I cut that tonight? You don't seem like the long hair kind of girl…"

She grinned so widely I thought her face was going to split in half. "Yes, please, I've wanted to have it cut for ages, but Mum and Dad always said no. Can you give me a pixie cut? Please, please, please?"

Recoiling slightly at her blatant enthusiasm, I contemplated her request and nodded slowly. "I can see that looking good on you."

Her brown eyes sparkled in excitement. "Sweet! We'll do it once we've gone to the common room!"

I was about to respond when Al nudged me in the ribs, telling me to shut up and listen to Hugo's sorting. The last Weasley was immediately named a Gryffindor and he sprinted with vim and vigour towards the Gryffindor table, where the rest of his cousins were waiting with open arms and more than enough red hair for one school. Waiting for the hall to settle down, Headmistress McGonagall stood up and made her speech. Relaxing into the small talk that accompanied the feast, I listened to the boys across the table prattle on about Quidditch and some girls further down gossip about the 'hottest guys' in the school. Before too long, we were ushered to follow the Slytherin Prefect, Gale Flint, towards our new common room, which happened to be in the dungeons down by the lake.

He droned on for a bit, quite bored with his role, before he began the useful parts of his speech.

"The current password to the common room is anaconda. Boys cannot go into the girls' dorms as the stairs are charmed, boys' dorms on the right, girls on the left. Our common room is under the lake, so please don't do something stupid like try to open a window or something." He whispered the password to the wall and a patch of the stone disappeared, revealing our common room. "Now get in there, you lazy first years."

Having far more than half a mind to hex him, I walked past him into the common room, going down the stairs on the left towards my new dorm. Going down the dark corridor to the last room, I opened it to find three beds, one for Jade, one for Sa and one for me. I claimed the bed in the far corner of the room, put my belongings where I could find them, let Sia out of her cage and waited for Sa to be ready for me to help her with her hair. Jade came in and snagged the bed in the middle of the room. Jade was still unpacking her things when Sa flew into the room, hunched over puffing and panting when she stopped.

"Sorry… I was just… dropping Noccy… off at the owlery…"

Cocking her head to one side, Jade queered, "Who's Noccy?"

Standing up after regaining her breath a little, Sa continued. "Noctowl, my owl." Noticing the blank look on Jade's face, she waved her hand at her. "Didn't expect you to know it, it's a Muggle game I'm obsessed with. You know of it, Rit?"

Nodding my head slightly, I commented, "I think so, I'm pretty sure Annette got me to watch some of the television shows about it. Sa, where do you want to sit so I can do your hair?"

She parked herself on her new bed and said, "Here's good." I was just about to start the charm to cut a section of her hair when Sia jumped onto me from behind. Unhooking her claws from my hair, I placed her next to me on the bed. She gave me the same disdained look that she had worn on the train and put a paw out in the direction of my new roommates. Understanding her gesture, I rolled my eyes and spoke.

"I apologise, you two. This is my cat Anastasia, though she responds to Sia as well. Sia, this is Jade Malfoy and Snarsha Remeair."

Jade continued unpacking as Sa turned around and looked at me strangely.

"Don't you feel a little weird talking to a cat? How do you know that she understands?"

Rolling my eyes again and forcing Sa's head back the way it was, I made some mental calculations as I quipped, "She's part Kneazle and too smart for her own good. I've given up on feeling or looking crazy long ago. I'm almost ready for the final cut, though it may take a while."

Sa nodded and took something out of her pocket and put it into her ear. It was white and long, rather like an enormous white worm. More than a little disturbed, I asked, "Sa, what have you put into your ear?"

Confused once more, Sa faced me and pulled the offending item out. "This?" At my affirmation she continued. "This is a headphone. I'm listening to music on my iPod. It's a Muggle device that stores music. Headphones help me to listen to the stored music."

Comprehending what she was saying, I gestured for her to put the headphone back in and picked up my wand. I made a few initial cuts before tidying, then summoned a mirror and handed it to her. Ecstatic with her new look, she abruptly jumped on me and hugged me, much to my shock. Brushing the remaining hair onto the ground and transfiguring it into a small ball of wool, I threw it in the general direction of Sia, whom snatched and started batting it around the room. Jade opened her mouth to say something when the door swung open to reveal an older Slytherin student, whom I could only assume was a prefect.

"Lights out in ten, I expect no noise after that."

After she had closed the door, I Silenced the room so we could continue. We all went to get changed into our nightclothes when we heard a small rumble coming from the front corner of the room. We found a slightly embarrassed Sa, whom was clutching her stomach.

"Sorry, I'm just a little peckish…" She muttered by way of explanation. Jade looked like she understood, and commented, "My brothers are always complaining that everyone's starving in here. It's too far to the kitchens and even if we did go, the patrolling Prefects'd catch us. Don't worry, Sa, you're not alone."

Contemplating the consequences, I queried, "Should I make some cupcakes and leave them in the common room?"

Jade grinned while Sa looked skeptical.

"If they're your cupcakes, people'll love them, Rit," Jade stated happily.

Sa looked at her, suspicion etched into her face as she argued, "But Slytherins are suspicious by nature. There's no way that people would actually eat them without question."

Waving my hand in her direction, I remarked, "Sa, we're talking about boys and food. They will eat them without question, Slytherins or not. Now, are you two going to help me bake or are you just going to help me carry them out."

Sa conceded and the two of them agreed to help charm enough cupcakes for all of Slytherin house. Quickly and quietly placing them on platters in the common room table, I placed a small placard in front, that read, '_Miss Spirit's Cupcakes – Citrus Cupcakes. Take and enjoy._' Retreating back to our dorm, we soon succumbed to exhaustion, dreaming contentedly about the exciting year to come.

* * *

**Congrats on surviving the chapter.**

**Reviews and criticism wanted and required!**

**Luna**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Now, see, if I were a famous author, I would be writing for something that would actually make me money.**

* * *

I woke up to a sea of white fur and claws, served with a side of hissing and a few complaints of, "Hurry up, Rit! We're going to be late for breakfast!" Picking the frustrated furball off of my face, I placed her down beside me and sat up to face my impatient roommate.

"Sa, was it really necessary to throw Sia at me to wake me up?"

Looking indignant, she crossed her arms and huffed, "I'm not going to wait around for my sleeping beauty of a roommate to get up when I could be eating pancakes. This is a one-off deal, Rit, even Jade's left. I've managed to go out for a walk around the grounds before I started to wake you up! And I started bothering half an hour ago! Now get your lazy butt out of bed, get changed and get down to breakfast!"

Rolling my eyes at her theatrics, I made my way out of my bed and put on my robes before making the bed and getting Sia some food. This merely upset Sa further, causing her to tap her foot in impatience. When I was finished with my tasks, she threw her hands up and screeched, "FINALLY!" and barged out of our dorm. Following suit, I closed the door behind me before walking along the corridor towards to common room. Gazing out the windows at the waters of the lake, I made little progress towards getting to the Great Hall. Not half a minute after my water analysis had started, Sa tore down the hall, grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the main area of the common room. I released her grasp on my arm as we passed where the cupcake platter had been placed. Scorpius and Al were feasting on the cakes, shoveling them into their mouths at alarming rates. Sa was about to snatch my arm again to continue her pursuit of food when Scorpius caught sight of me and stormed over, a younger, less prejudiced version of his father. Towering over me with his arms crossed and a scowl plastered on his face, he stated, "This was your doing, wasn't it?"

Feigning innocence, I replied, "Who, me? Couldn't have been, I was unpacking all night."

Scowl deepening, he moved closer and hissed quietly, "I know it was you. You were the one who made those cupcakes. You kept sending them to us over the holidays, I'd know your baking if my nose was completely blocked and my tongue had been burnt to oblivion and back. You're Miss Spirit, aren't you?"

Still trying to pass off the innocent façade, I replied, "I did indeed make the cupcakes, and yes I did put a few platters around in the common room. I didn't think that it would harm anyone to have a snack without having to trek all the way to the kitchens for relief." Seeing Sa's irate expression at having to stay longer than she had ever wanted to for pancakes, I added, "Or to the Great Hall."

Scorpius's expression shifted from a scowl to a smirk as he backed off. He looked slightly smug, until he saw how many cupcakes his best friend had managed to scarf in his absence. Quickly summoning a few more of the cupcakes for himself, he turned to face me again, missing the look of absolute irritation on Al's face.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing, I just said I knew it was you who did it. The only things I think are bad about it are that the other houses don't get to experience this and that there aren't more of them!" In saying that, he took one of the last cupcakes, placed it in his mouth and started the consumption of another copious amount of little cakes.

Rolling her eyes once more at the antics of boys, Sa ensnared my arm in her vice grip and proceeded once again to drag me out of the common room towards the Great Hall.

* * *

Once in the dining hall, Sa let go of my arm immediately and took off towards an empty seat on the Slytherin table, leaving me at the entrance of the room. Rolling my eyes at her continued theatrics, I took my seat by Jade and took a cheese muffin from the centre of the table. Taking a bite and chewing slowly, I looked over at Sa to see her stuffing her face full of pancakes, much in the same way Scorp and Al were back in the common rooms. Shaking my head slightly at the spectacle, I took another bite of the muffin as the owls began to fly in with the morning mail.

One owl with particularly golden plumage came flying down to Sa, who greeted the owl with an excited squeal and proceeded to fawn over it with renewed vigour. She untied the parchment from around the owl's ankle and let it perch on her shoulder on one foot. Unfurling the note, her face quickly changed for excited to a sneer of disgust. Taking a pen out of her pocket, she scrawled something on the back of the notice and tied it to the foot that the owl wasn't standing on. Feeding it some of her pancake, she gave it one final scratch under the chin and let it fly away, turning her gaze back to Jade and myself.

Sensing that we were waiting for an explanation, she elaborated, "That was Noccy, he's got a bad foot. The note was from my mum, who thought that after eleven years of being herself, she might suddenly change – like trying out for World's Greatest Mother!"

By the end of the explanation she was seething, so Jade and I dropped the potential investigation about her mother and the letter. After a few minutes of semi-awkward silence, we heard the clink of silverware against glass, so we shifted our attention to the head table, where Headmistress McGonagall was standing. She was shaking slightly, due to her rising age and also a wound she obtained during the war.

"May I have your attention, please?" Once there was complete silence, she continued with her speech. "If you would please return to your common rooms as soon as possible, your Heads of House will be distributing your timetables. Classes will begin at half past nine. Also, your Head Prefects for this year will be Hufflepuff's Sebastian Krum and Gryffindor's Molly Weasley. Thank you."

At the formal initiation of their new titles, the son of Viktor Krum stood brooding and slouched slightly, while the daughter of the biggest ponce that the world has ever seen stood proudly, unfazed by the blatant glares and the 'polite' applause that was accompanying her presentation. Smiling smugly, she sat back down next to her less-than-eager Head Boy, whom had merely slouched further over when seated, to the point where he was nearly becoming up close and personal with his breakfast.

Getting up from my own seat, I put the remainder of the muffin in my pocket for Sia to eat later and, bidding my adieus to the others at the table, I made my way back to the room below the lake.

Aware that I was now not the only person in the room, I put down my charms textbook to see the return of my roommates. Silently conveying that we were needed in the common room, I remembered the muffin in my pocket. Putting it down in front of my hungry cat, I followed them out into the common room. Though intent on getting my timetable on time, I could have sworn I saw a tentacle through the window to the lake. Moving closer to the view in an attempt to see the fabled squid, I managed to spot a blur of blonde and black just before I was picked up and rushed off to the common room. I was unceremoniously dumped onto a couch in the cold and stony cellar, scowling up at an irritated Sa, an amused Jade and the identical smirks of Scorp and Al. Knowing full well who was at fault of hurrying me yet again, I shot a glare in Sa's general direction and turned to Jade.

"How did you manage to get Idiots One and Two to do your bidding, Miss Malfoy? I somehow doubt that your brother willingly helped you with nothing to gain." The younger of the Malfoys in question had the decency to look sheepish and slightly ashamed, while the elder feigned innocence and looked away. The only Slytherin Potter, on the other hand, apparently had no such qualms about revealing his motives.

Pointing towards my roommates, he gleefully exclaimed, "They said we'd get more of your cupcakes if we did it!"

Rolling my eyes at their 'reward', I was about to comment that the cupcakes were more than a 'one night, one house' deal, when the entrance to the room was flung open to reveal a very agitated, pug-faced woman. Her black hair was cut in a straightened bob and her dark mauve designer robes swished wherever she walked. With the attitude of a pitbull and the voice of a chihuahua, the professor screeched, "I want all of you to line up, alphabetical order, all years!" After a few moments of a frozen, confused silence, she shrieked, "NOW!"

It was as if someone had pressed the fast forward button on a television remote. The common room was alive with scuttling bodies and frantic, hushed voices of all sorts. I was quickly separated from my newfound friends, with Sa and Al disappearing further down in the line while Jade ended up sandwiched between her brothers. A couple minutes of sorting later, I was in my place for timetables, squished between what looked like a relatively gormless, bulky seventh year a boy and a stick—thin girl whom was definitely no older than thirteen.

The wait for timetables went on for eons, with every individual Slytherin pupil going up and collecting their schedule for the year. The line was hardly moving, inching forward every few minutes. Though I could hardly see the shrewd, scrunched up face of our self-righteous Head of House, I could tell that she was relishing the unanimous discomfort and worn patience.

After a few more minutes of 'patiently' waiting, Jade shuffled her way out from between her brothers and walked purposefully towards me. Turning to me and stating quietly, "Well, isn't this a fun time?" she attempted to strike a more invigorating conversation to pass the time. After having seen other students being reprimanded harshly for attempting to pass time through a whispered exchange to the person adjacent to them, Merlin knows the punishment Jade was going to receive from our hellish Head of House for daring to _move_ and then have the nerve to start a conversation. Hissing back, "What are you thinking? Get back into line before you get into trouble!" our terror at the front of the room screeched, "STOP TALKING! MISS…" Jade smirked and whispered, "Watch this."

"Malfoy, miss."

The woman's demeanor changed immediately, morphing from the vicious tyrant she had been when she walked in this morning to something that could have been interpreted as kind and motherly, had she not proven to be such a nasty piece of work when she stepped through the door.

"Oh, well then. Just keep it down then, yes? And pass on good wishes to your father. I apologise for the inconvenience."

Jade's eyebrows lifted in surprise, then turned back to me and smirked.

"Did I ever tell you about my dearest father's Hogwarts fling?"

* * *

Twenty minutes and a rather enlightening tale about our Head of House later, I had finally reached the front of the queue for our timetables. The shrew standing before me reeked of expensive perfume. While some people would wear that for their own pleasure, I knew what women like my Head of House wore it for. I had become accustomed to the smell when my father took women to his wing in the night, assuming Annette and I would be unaware. They disappeared as quickly as they had come, as Annette had been quick to cotton on and put her foot down. However, the damage had been done, and the smell had allowed me to, with the addition of Jade's insightful little story, pinpoint just the type of woman that the one in front of me was. Three words would sum her up quite nicely: ruthless, corrupted, tart.

Accepting the proffered piece of parchment from the person before me, I thanked her politely, if not sincerely, and made to head towards the dorms. Well, I would have, had fingers not wrapped around my arm and dragged me backwards. Excessively long fingernails embedded themselves into my arm as the Head of House whispered slyly into my ear, "Tell your father that Pansy Parkinson will raise you the right way, hm?" She pushed me away, preparing to hand out more timetables. "Run along now, I have more important people to attend to. NEXT!"

Scrambling to get out of her raving clutches, I nodded my head in faux interest and made for my room.

A few minutes later, Jade returned with her slip of parchment. We sat in silence waiting for Sa to arrive with her timetable, so we could all find out what classes we had together. We had been waiting for a good half hour before she finally arrived, schedule in hand. She came through the door with a face red with rage. Throwing the parchment onto the bed, she threw herself into a rant about a certain Professor Parkinson.

"Can you believe that woman!? Honestly, how the bleeding hell could she tell that I was a halfblood? And then to sneer at me in front of the remaining Slytherins and tell them that I was free game! FREE. GAME. Who the hell does she think she is? The Queen of England?"

"The princess of promiscuous purebloods, maybe," snipped Jade.

"Yeah, thanks for that, Jade. As I was saying, who the bloody hell does she think she is, the Queen of England? Newsflash! She's just a professor at a magical boarding school! Most people would think her insane!" She threw her hands in the air at this point, causing giggles from the two of us sitting on the bed.

Placing her hands on her hips, Sa pursed her lips and glared at Jade and I.

"And just what is so bloody funny? You both know full well that she's going to make the next seven years here living hell! Seven years, people!" And it was at that point that Sia decided that her head made a great perch. It sent Jade and I past the point of no return, so we were clutching our stomachs, laughing 'tilwe cried.

Shrieking in irritation, Sa took the Kneazle off of her head and put her on the bed, replacing her with the timetable she had discarded earlier. Flicking over the document briefly, she looked up and stated, "Well, I've got Potions with Professor Slughorn first, and then Defence Against the Dark Arts with Professor Scamander after lunch. What about you guys?"

Reading our own timetables, we discovered that we all had exactly the same time schedule as everyone else. Flicking over the times again, Jade's eyes widened.

"Um, Miss Bookworm-"

"You serious, that's my new nickname?" Well, there were worse things to be called, I suppose.

Jade rolled her eyes in retaliation. "Yes, well, not everyone reads _Hogwarts: A History_ several times over before they start school."

Crossing my arms in indignation, I huffed, "Hermione Weasley did..."

Sa snorted. "Earth to Rit, not everyone is an insufferable know-it-all. No one else does that sort of thing. Back to the point, please?"

Shaking her head, Jade started again. "Look, Miss Bookworm, whenis morning class supposed to start?"

"Nine o'clock. You should know this, your timetable says so!"

"And what time is it now, O Great One means to tell time?"

Looking at my watch, I said primly, "Exactly five to nine."

What I said didn't click until a couple of seconds later.

"Merlin, we have five minutes to get to class! Come on, we can't be late to our first lesson!" Grabbing my textbooks, I shoved them into a bag and ran out of the room, only to run right back and grab my two friends by their robes and drag them to our first class.

* * *

Panting as we arrived to the Potions room at last, I placed my hands on my knees as I bent over to catch my breath. Once I could speak without sounding completely breathless, I stood up and said, "Sorry we're late, Professor Slughorn, we had trouble finding the room."

"Well, I'm sure you'll fit in just fine. Take a seat, girls, and it would do you well to turn up to class on time." The voice sounded eerily familiar, but surely not?

Sa and Jade had scrambled into the empty seats in the back row, so I slipped in next to a slightly stocky Gryffindor boy. The professor at the head of the room finished his final note with a flourish and turned around to face us. There was a hollow _thunk_ to my left as Jade's head hit the desk, to the amusement of myself and Sa.

The professor himself allowed a small snicker before clearing his throat and introducing himself properly.

"Well, as you can see, I am not Professor Slughorn. He has been through a small... _accident_ recently, and, as such, I am your relieving Potions professor. I am Professor Draco Malfoy, and I will be taking Potions until Professor Slughorn recovers. Any questions before we start?" He was met with silence, bar a loud groan that come from Jade, who was repeatedly hitting her head on the desk, eliciting chuckles from most of the room. Her father rolled his eyes and began explaining our first potion we would be brewing. Jade fell asleep, Sa had taken to flicking small balls of parchment at her head and I was alternating between copying down notes and glaring at Sa for not doing work in class. This changed to scribbling notes and shielding them, as the boy beside me decided to steal my notes instead of actually paying attention and making his own.

The rest of the class was relatively uneventful, up until the last few minutes, in which Hugo had decided to flick ink pellets at my cousin, losing fifteen points from Gryffindor and earning a detention with Filch that night. The bell rang after Hugo's sentence, signalling lunch.

Wiping the wet ink off him as much as he could, Draco called out, "I want one foot on the properties and uses of flobberworm mucus! Due first thing Wednesday. And the girls that came in late, come to the front, I want a word."

Grumbling our discontent, we packed up and went up to the front of the room. My cousin was muttering under his breath when we approached him. He was facing towards his desk, fumbling around trying to find something, presumably his wand. Rolling my eyes, I muttered a quick _Scourgify _and removed Hugo's war stains. Placing my wand back in my bookbag, I crossed my arms and tapped my foot impatiently waiting for him to recognise our presence.

Eventually, Sa's hasty nature won out, and she said, "Um, Professor Malfoy, the ink's gone, what did you want to see us for?"

The blonde man started at hearing voices, turning around at such a speed that his hair flicked him in the eyes. Wincing slightly, he asked, "Why are you girls still here? I thought you would have bolted out to lunch."

Jade facepalmed in irritation, stating, "Dad, you asked us to come here because we were late. And jumping at a voice? Seriously? What happened to your 'war sharpened reflexes', huh?"

Relaxing a bit, he leant back against the desk and began the interrogation.

"Why were you girls late, anyway? I know you said that it was because you couldn't find the room, but you were the only ones late!"

"We couldn't find the room, and _some people_," I glared at my supposedly innocent roommates, "didn't want to go to class."

Chuckling to himself, he reached forward and ruffled Jade's hair, much to her disgust. "Jade's never had the same passion for learning that her brothers had. She's a smart kid, but she just doesn't invest in learning."

Blushing, Jade slapped her dad's hand away, screeching, "Dad! Stop ratting me out to my new friends!"

Sa slapped the blonde girl standing next to her upside the head. "Honestly, this isn't the Malfoy and Lestrange Show. Stop arguing with your dad and introduce me to your family, yeah?"

Groaning once more, Jade rubbed the back of her head as she introduced her new friend to her dad. "Right. Dad, this is Snarsha Remeair, address her as Sa. Sa, my annoying dad, Draco Malfoy."

A firm handshake took place before Sa bolted towards the door, picking up her bag on the way. Just as she was just about out the door, she shouted, "I'm not letting your family get together take away my lunchtime. I'm starving and I'm leaving. See you guys in Defence Against the Dark Arts!"

Snickering at his daughter's friend, Draco said, "I like her, she's got attitude. Now seriously, her comment about lunch was a good one. If you've got DADA next, you're going to want some food in you so you can put up with three hours of Loony Lovegood." Shoving us towards the exit, he paused and quipped, "But for future reference, never call her that or say that I called her that. Got it?" Successfully pushing us all the way out of the Potions room, he closed the door behind us with a bang and a quick, "Bye!", leaving us to shake our heads and walk to the Great Hall to stock up for what was appearing to be a full on class.

* * *

DADA went off without event, as it was shared with the studious Ravenclaws as opposed to the Gryffindor idiots we shared Potions with. My cousin was partially right about the professor, she was a little... _queer_, but Professor Scamander was great nonetheless. She knew what she was teaching, even if it was injected with stories of creatures that I had little faith in actually existing.

I was paired with the Baddock girl. Jasmine, I think her name was. We had to take notes as pairs from the textbook and then attempt to practise the bogey curse on each other. We were assigned another essay, only five inches this time, on the origins and uses of the bogey curse.

Dinner, again, was uneventful, unless you count Colt falling out of his seat laughing as eventful. By the time it was over, we had around two and a half hours before curfew.

I ran to the dorms to grab some more parchment to make notes on, as I was planning on going to the library to do some work and study a little. In my haste to make it to my dorm, I completely missed the girl sitting with her legs outstretched in the common room. I fell to the floor with a thud.

The girl with dark chocolate haired glared at me. "What was that for? Honestly, first years..." She shook her head and returnedtothe book she was reading prior to my 'interruption'.

Standing up and brushing myself off, I contemplated apologising before settling for a glare and a well-placed retort.

"Excuse me for wanting to get a bit of extra studying done. Who are you exactly, anyway? You're clearly not giving me any respect, so why should I give you any? Just because you're older doesn't mean you know any better."

Her amber eyes narrowed, then she smiled and held out her hand. Apparently I had passed her inspection.

"I'm Piper Black, third year. And, you are?"

Smirking, I shook her hand. "Rit Lestrange, and greatly looking forward to annoying you further."

* * *

**Hope you liked that chapter, sorry it's taken so long for me to update.**

**Also, apologies for the weird formatting, Fanfiction is not being kind to me at the moment.**

**Link to Sa's version of the story is here: s/9010277/1/Rewritten-Rewrite-The-truth-behind-the -lies**

**Review please!**

**Luna**


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